Junior School 

Performing Arts

Dates for your diary 

Speech and Drama Exams – Good Luck! 

Mrs Callaughan and Mrs Paix have been working hard to prepare their students for their upcoming IMEB exams later this week. Exams will be hosted at the Kinross Wolaroi Music Centre. Please ensure your child knows what time their exam will be during the day. We wish them all the very best of luck! 

Music Celebration Afternoon Tea 

As this year draws to a close, we would like to celebrate what has been achieved this year in our Junior School music program. We would like to invite all students and parents to an informal afternoon tea celebration of the achievements of our musicians this year. There will be a short concert followed by a presentation of co-curricular ensemble awards and AMEB certificates. Details are below. 

DATE: Tuesday 15 November 3.30-4.30pm  

WHERE: Music Centre 

ATTENDEES: * ensembles who will perform 

Junior Beginner Strings * 

Junior String Orchestra * 

Junior Concert Band * 

Koristers (JS students only)  

Piano students who sat an AMEB exam 

Instrumental Tuition – Re-enrolments for 2023 

All current students taking private lessons are required to re-enrol every year. We strongly encourage students to re-enrol before the end of Term 4 as this will ensure that places are secured for 2023.  

Re-enrolments are now open and can be accessed online via this link: https://forms.office.com/r/9FTznRGaqV 

Once received, tutors will be given your contact information and will be in touch in week one of the 2023 school year.  

Please do not hesitate to contact Katherine Howarth (kahowarth@kws.nsw.edu.au) if you have any issues or questions relating to enrolments. 

Year 6 Students are 'In Tune' with the Senior School 

As part of the transition from Junior to Senior school, the Music Department extended an invitation to our Year 6 Junior Concert Band students to ‘come and play’ with the Senior School concert band on Friday mornings for a few weeks during Term 4. This gives them an opportunity to play with a large group of experienced musicians, to improve their sightreading and gauge the type of repertoire they will be playing in this ensemble. Mrs Shields is looking forward to welcoming them into the band next year.  

Japanese Clapping Game Challenge 

Students in Years 5 and 6 were challenged recently during Choir to learn a fast partner clapping song from Japan called Omochio Tsukimasho. It is a reference to the process of making mochi, a rice cake dessert made by pounding rice into a paste and then moulding it into the desired shape. In Japan, it is traditionally made in a ceremony called "mochitsuki".  The idea of the song is to recite the song and clapping pattern as fast and as accurately as possible. It requires concentration, cooperation and excellent coordination for success! Year 5 students set the bar high, with Millie and Addy producing the fastest performance and Isabelle and Millie getting very creative with their own remix of the clapping pattern.  

Sydney Youth Orchestra – Summer Workshop

2023 Summer School – Sydney Youth Orchestras (syo.com.au) 

Join SYO for a week of amazing music making in a vibrant and fun atmosphere where you can really stretch yourself musically alongside other like-minded students.  

SYO’s Summer School 2023 promises to be the very best orchestral training holiday program for young musicians aged 5-18 

You will be led by some of Australia’s finest conductors and tutors and will perform in the stunning Lower Town Hall at the famous Sydney Town Hall.  

Summer School offers five fun days of music learning – targeted at a variety of musical levels; within a band or orchestral environment. 

On the sixth day – your learning will be showcased at a concert, to be held on Saturday 21 January, 2023. 

There are scholarships available for regional musicians, with applications closing on November 27.   

Please contact Katherine Howarth for more information.  

A Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols

This term our choirs and orchestra students are presenting a traditional Christmas Carol service, with free admission to the public.  We are hoping that this event will provide us the opportunity to spread a bit of Christmas cheer and also to foster links with the broader Orange community.  Further information has been emailed to our performers.  All welcome! Please come along and enjoy the Christmas Spirit!

CONTACTS 

COORDINATOR OF JUNIOR SCHOOL PERFORMING ARTS: Katie Sinclair – ksinclair@kws.nsw.edu.au  

PERFORMING ARTS OFFICE: Sharon Martin – performingarts@kws.nsw.edu.au  

K-12 INSTRUMENTAL COORDINATOR: Katherine Howarth – kahowarth@kws.nsw.edu.au  

HEAD OF PERFORMING ARTS: Jackie Shields – jshields@kws.nsw.edu.au